Why do we have to pick saints’ names for our children’s baptism?

Full Question

I’m not a Catholic, but my wife is. We’ve decided to have our two children baptized and brought up as Catholics. We’ve been getting instructions from the parish. We were advised to pick a saint’s name for each of the children. Why is that done?

Answer

You will hear in the creed, when it is said at Mass, that we believe in the Communion of Saints. This means we are spiritually united with those who have died and are now in heaven. They can act as intercessors–they have the ability to assist us and pray for us.

By choosing a saint’s name you acknowledge this fact and ask a particular saint to assist you in bringing up the child; the saint becomes the child’s patron–and a role model for the child.

It is a tradition of Roman Catholics to name our children the name of the saint whose feast day falls on the birth of the child although it is not necessary. The parents may choose names of other saints. It depends upon the gender of the child too. Nowadays, that practice is not so popular anymore as parents tends to choose better sounding names than being of spiritual nature.